St Giles International Hospitality Agreement1
1-3 Marlborough Place
BrightonEast Sussex BN1 1UB
Email: Telephone (01273) 671746
Website: Facsimile (01273) 689808
Hospitality Agreement
Information and Guidance for Homestay Providers
Contents
1Introduction
2What is St Giles?
3English UK
4Why homestay?
5Arriving in England
6Nationality of students in your home
7Number of students in your home
8The homestay provider’s mother tongue
9The student’s room
10Heating
11Cleaning
12Bathroom and toilet
13Laundry
14Meals
15Telephone
16Safety
17Keys
18Guests
19Personal privacy
20Students’ medical treatment and personal problems
21Religion and culture
22Smoking
23Transport
24Insurance
25Emergencies
26Termination of Agreement
27Information about you
28Short-stay and long-stay students
29Placements
30Payment
31Reservations and extensions of stay
32Absences/holidays/retainers
33Cancellation
34Problems or changes
35Income tax
36Students who are under 18 years of age
37English UK Code of Conduct
1 Introduction
Accommodation is about providing homes, not just beds. Feeling at home is important if a student is to work effectively and succeed. The student’s stay with the homestay provider is an important element in their course and a significant part of their total experience of living and studying in England. We therefore regard our homestays as part of the service we provide to students, and so like to work with our hosts to ensure that the students have an enjoyable stay and improve their English as much as possible.
This guide has been produced to help new as well as experienced homestay providers to provide a good service in offering accommodation to St Giles students, and sets out the various aspects of hosting a foreign student which all hosts are required to abide by. Please feel free to contact our Accommodation and Welfare Office if you need any help or advice about St Giles homestay.
We hope you will enjoy being a St Giles Host!
2 What is St Giles?
St Giles International was established in 1955. We are one of the largest and most successful private international English language training organisations founded in the UK. According to the Plimsoll analysis of UK English Language course providers, St Giles International was the 7th largest independent provider of English language courses in the UK in 2012, within a field of around 1,000 separate operators and employed an average of 440 staff and over 600 during the summer. Our 2012 turnover exceeded £27M British Pounds Sterling and we were ranked 9th for UK profitability.
We are a family-owned business with a proud history and outstanding reputation for quality and reliability, though most of our senior (non-directorship) management team are not family members. The CEO is a member of the founding family and opened our London Central school in 1987, the largest in the Group. He was St Giles Group Marketing & Commercial Director for 15 years. He was a founding Director of English UK – the National Association for Accredited English language centres in the UK, covering around 450 British Council Accredited schools in Britain.
The St Giles Group now consists of seven medium/large, year-round centres: Brighton, Eastbourne, London Central and London Highgate in the UK; New York and San Francisco in the USA; and Vancouver in Canada along with several franchise schools in Brazil. We also run a thriving Summer Camp operation for ‘Juniors’ aged 8-18 and last year we ran 14 camps in the UK, USA and Canada. Approximately 14,000 students per year from around 100 countries attend a St Giles centre every year.
All the year-round St Giles centres in the UK are Accredited by the British Council and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) and are members of English UK. In 2012 St Giles International UK achieved a ‘3 star’ award from the EL Gazette for being the only UK English Language group to achieve top grades in the ISI inspection scheme. The San Francisco and New York City centres are members of the AAIEP - the American Association of Intensive English Language programmes- and accredited by the CEA. The Vancouver centre is an Accredited member of Languages Canada.
In addition to teaching English to foreign students and business people, the St Giles Group also provides teacher-training courses in English as a foreign language. Last year approximately 500 teachers took courses leading to the Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and Trinity School Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Cert TESOL), many of whom went on to teach at St Giles, or other leading English language schools.
St Giles International aims to deliver high quality courses at competitive prices. It has an active management scheme called the Quality Management Project which runs regular checks on student satisfaction and feedback from staff at all our centres and this data is used to ensure that we are maintaining high quality standards across our group.
3 English UK
As mentioned above, all St Giles Schools in the UK are members of English UK, which is the professional association for schools accredited by the British Council. As a condition of continuing accreditation, the British Council carries out regular inspections of all members, covering every aspect of the activities of our Schools. An important requirement of our membership is that all hosts abide by the English UK code of conduct for homestay providers, which is reproduced in section 37 of this document.
4 Why homestay?
Our students come here from all over the world to study English as a foreign language. They choose homestay for home comforts, a home atmosphere, and a chance to practice their English outside the classroom, and also because they are interested in learning about English domestic life and culture. Integration in a homestay gives them an ideal opportunity for such an experience and to improve their English. We expect our students to join in and to adapt as much as possible. We have found that homestay providers who put the most energy into hosting students also get the greatest satisfaction.
5 Arriving in England
St Giles Brighton is an international School, taking students from many different countries. For most, it is their first time in England, and many things will be new and bewildering for them. It is therefore important to be helpful and understanding. Being aware of any cultural differences makes it easier for everyone.
Homestay accommodation is normally booked from Sunday to Sunday unless otherwise requested and agreed. We ask students to contact their hosts before they travel to inform you of their estimated time of arrival, but we cannot guarantee that all students will manage this (apart from other factors, some may lack confidence in making contact in a foreign language). Please contact the Accommodation Office if you have not been informed of the arrival time by the Thursday before arrival.
If you know what time your student is coming, it is you responsibility to ensure someone is at the house to greet the student. It is essential that someone is at home to meet students when they first arrive, so we ask you to make appropriate arrangements for someone to be at home all day if students have given you an arrival time. If you must pop out, please leave a contact number on the door. Do not call the Emergency Telephone in this instance.
6 Nationality of students in your home
The British Council requires that no students with the same mother tongue are to be accommodated at the same time, unless a specific request has been made. The School would therefore ask you to notify us if you anticipate accommodating simultaneously two students of the same nationality or mother tongue.
7 Number of students per home
British Council regulations state that no more than four students/paying guestsshould be accommodated with the same homestay at the same time. If more than 4 are accommodated this will be classed as a private home accommodation. This is to ensure that all students enjoy the real benefits of a homestay environment. Homestay providers accepting students from other sources in addition to St Giles are obliged to maintain this regulation and to notify the Accommodation Officer in the event of their anticipating a contravention of this rule.
8 The homestay provider’s mother tongue
For obvious reasons, it is a requirement that either the host or host’s spouse/partner should be fluent in English. Moreover English should be the main language of communication in the home.
9 The student’s room
The student must occupy a room visited and approved by a member of staff from the School. The room should contain a full-size bed, wardrobe or fitted cupboard, chest of drawers or dressing table, a mirror, desk or table with table-lamp and chair, and, if possible, a TV. It is especially important that students have a desk or table, as they will often want to study in the evenings. Please note wireless internet is essential, and no more than 2 students should share a room.
10 Heating
Adequate heating should be provided – please bear in mind that many students are used to warmer climates or better insulated homes than ours - and some extra bedding should be offered. If you turn off your heating overnight in the winter, it is important to tell students about this in advance.
11 Cleaning
Students should understand that they are responsible for making their beds and tidying their rooms. They should be encouraged to help you with lighter tasks such as setting the table, clearing the table after a meal, etc. The room should be cleaned regularly - please tell students you have to enter their room for this. Bed linen and towel(s) should be changed at least once a week.
12 Bathroom and toilet
A student should have free access to the bathroom in the same way as the rest of the household. A rota system may be necessary. Ask the student to make sure the bathroom is left clean and tidy after use, and ensure that they know how to use all the facilities.
13 Laundry
Please advise your student about arrangements for washing, drying and ironing clothes. Where possible, we expect one wash per week to be included free of charge. You can either do this yourself for the student or explain how they can use the washing machine, pointing out features and restrictions. It is a good idea to supervise them the first time they use it. If there is any additional washing, you can ask the student to contribute a small amount, or make clear where to find the nearest coin-operated launderette facilities.
14 Meals
You should provide your student with two meals each day and, in addition, a light lunch at weekends. You are not expected to offer a full English breakfast every day, but you should offer a substantial breakfast, including fruit juice, yogurt or cereal, toast, and tea or coffee. The hot evening meal should be substantial, and include meat or fish (or other protein – particularly in the case of vegetarians).
In order to give maximum opportunity for English conversation, it is particularly important that students have their main meal with the host most evenings of the week. Students will expect to have the same meals as your household, and when possible you should eat with them. The School will inform you where possible at the time of booking if the student has any special dietary requirements, but you should check with the student on arrival if there is any other dietary need for religious or medical reasons.
Students should try to fit in with the mealtimes of the host, although some flexibility is required. On some occasions, it may be possible to adjust the mealtime to suit the student, while on others, for example if a student wishes to stay out some evenings, the host could leave (say) a cold dish in the fridge or a meal that the student could reheat in the oven/microwave. Students should be made aware that they should inform you if they wish to miss a meal. If a student is away for a day at weekends, they may ask you to provide a packed lunch.
15 Telephone and internet
Most students will have mobile phones and can be expected to use this as their prime means of telecommunication. However, land-line incoming calls should be permitted for emergencies only.
The School provides free internetfacilities for during the hours it is open. However many students need to use the internet while in the homestay. We expect you to provide this service – it will mean that we are more likely to place to students with you.
16 Safety
It is important to explain to students any special safety rules that you may have, e.g. the need to keep pills, cleaning fluids and breakables out of the reach of small children. The use of electrical equipment and any room heaters, water heaters, etc., should also be explained carefully, as should fire precautions. Hosts are required by law to carry out a risk assessment on their home.
Please note all households are legally required to have a Gas Safety check on an annual basis.
17 Keys
Students must be given their own house key for the period of their stay. If the student loses the key, they should be expected to pay for a replacement as the School cannot accept responsibility for this.
18 Guests
Students may occasionally want to invite a friend or relative to your home. This should be permitted provided that they do not cause an unreasonable disturbance to you or your family. Please inform students at the beginning of their stay if you wish to impose any rules about guests. We feel it is reasonable that students should ask your permission first if they wish to invite a guest, and you are entitled to expect that guests of the opposite sex should not stay after 11.00 pm. Bear in mind, however, that our students are mainly adults, and will therefore not expect to be given instructions on morality.
19 Personal privacy
There will be times when you yourselves want privacy, and you are entitled to inform the students (gently) about this. However, we expect students to be invited to mix with members of your household at other times beside meal times. Please bear in mind that students have chosen accommodation ‘in a home’ or ‘with a family’ at least partly in order to practice their English.
We recommend that students should have free access to the living room. Certainly, students will want to talk with you and other members of your household as much as possible, so please try to make conversation with them. Please note that it is unacceptable to lock the common areas of the house.
20 Students’ medical treatment and personal problems
If your student needs medical treatment, he/she should register with your GP, as a temporary resident. If this is not possible, please direct the student to the Accommodation Office at the School, who will provide relevant advice.
Unfortunately, in exceptional circumstances, there may be times when students experience serious emotional problems. We do request information from students concerning whether they are taking medication, and whether they have any special needs, and we endeavour to notify hosts about this wherever possible. Nevertheless, if a student’s behaviour is giving you undue cause for concern, please contact us for further advice, and to discuss the best solution available. Please note that, ultimately, we cannot accept responsibility for any unreasonable conduct or behaviour of students, though we will try to work together with you to offer support to you and the student. Naturally, in a legal sense our duty of care is to the students, and we have to act in their best interest. Please note that we do not (and in many cases cannot) conduct criminal record background checks on students, and that you are accepting a student at your own risk.
21 Religion and Culture
A great number of important welfare issues or problems may have their origin in this broad category. It is important for hosts to make an effort to understand and respect differences in cultures, and in some cases to make allowances for this.
Differences in culture can often give rise to misunderstandings for homestay providers as well as students. Differences in voice intonation, the use (or not) of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are common sources of problems. Try to tactfully explain how things are ‘done’ in your home and in the UK in general.
All religious differences must be respected and received with an open mind. The School can provide students with information on local centres of worship.
Advice on these matters can be sought from the School.
22 Smoking
Please make very clear from the start your policy regarding smoking. Both the student and the School should be aware of this before a placement is made. If you do not want to permit smoking in your home, please advise students or their friends to do so outside.
23 Transport
Please show the students where to find the nearest bus stop.
24 Insurance
Fair wear and tear should not be charged to students, but they should be expected to pay for any damage they may have caused. As the School cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage, we strongly advise you to make the necessary arrangements with your own insurance company
25 Emergencies